Baneberry was among the forest plants at the Mianus River Gorge Preserve that rebounded once an area was fenced off to deer. / Photo submitted by Rod Christie

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Call it the Bambi effect. Many nibbling deer can often strip a forest bare — as far as the animals can reach. Such thoroughness makes it difficult for a forest to survive, can increase erosion and can lead to invasive species taking root, experts say. On March 6, Rod Christie, executive director of the Mianus River Gorge Preserve, will address how deer can affect forests as part of a seminar sponsored by Bedford 2020.

Chew, chew, chew: One deer can eat an average of four to eight pounds of forage per day and up to a ton of leaves, stems and shoots annually, according to a Westchester County report.

Table for two? Three? Dozens?: Estimates vary as to how many deer are out there but scientists point out suburbia is almost perfect habitat for the four-legged creatures. Hunting and predators, save for cars, are almost nonexistent and food is readily available. At the Mianus River Gorge Preserve, Christie said there are about 30 to 40 animals per square mile, down from about 60 per square mile in 2004 when the preserve’s bow-hunting program started. About 15 to 25 per square mile “is probably needed to allow plants to recover sufficiently to maintain themselves” at the 750-acre gorge, Christie said.

Keeping the deer away: The preserve fenced off several quarter-acre plots in the forest to see how certain plants would respond without any diners.

“They were put together for really three different reasons: One, to protect some pockets of species that we didn’t want to see disappear, protect them from deer specifically. Two was to look at what would happen to these populations if deer were fenced out and, three, was to look at invasive species and to see what would happen to them if deer were not part of the equations,” Christie said.

Within one enclosure, three wildflower species — red trillium, baneberry and true Solomon’s seal — rebounded from almost nothing in 2001 to hundreds of stems several years later.

“Those three species are really important in that they’re kind of indicator species because they are very delectable by deer. Deer eat them a lot,” Christie said. “We picked three species that deer liked but were also kind of normal woodland species you would find throughout the preserve.”

Want to know more?: “Forests and Clean Water: Did You Know They Could Disappear?” takes place at 7 p.m. March 6 at the St. Matthew’s Parish House in Bedford. Christie and Troy Weldy of The Nature Conservancy will discuss why forests are important as well as strategies to preserve them. Registration is required for the free event. Go to www.bedford2020.org and follow the link.